Manhole Magic

My sister sent me a link to a news article today, from The Day, a newspaper in New London, Connecticut. Her father in law had forwarded the article to her, remembering that we had a manhole cover web site. The article has already moved into The Day’s archives (after 1 day they require registration, and after a week they require payment), but luckily I grabbed a copy locally before that happened:

“Yeah, it’s me,” said George Clarke, a local insurance salesman and peace activist who also publishes a local periodical called River Edge Record. Clarke also drives the rather notorious “Varuna Van” around town, which is painted in the abstract neon many associate with the Partridge Family bus. “I’ve wanted to do the manhole covers for years. I’ve always thought they were ideal for artwork, and I like artwork on things that aren’t flat.”

Clarke isn’t defacing municipal property with paint, though.

He utilizes colored sand — the sort found in certain Navajo or monk sand paintings — that he carefully distributes in a variety of patterns within the tiny and scalloped grid work atop the covers.